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News

  • James Byrd

    Vanderbilt Divinity School awarded grant to study AI

    Vanderbilt Divinity School was recently awarded a $30,000 grant from the Wabash Center to study artificial intelligence and its impact. The project, “We Can Wait No Longer: Educating Theological Educators About Artificial Intelligence,” seeks to inform Divinity faculty of the mechanics behind AI and the latest advancements. As ethicists and… Read More

    April 1, 2025

  • Vanderbilt University

    Research on intersex experience highlights overlooked population in religious communities

    A new book from Stephanie Budwey, an assistant professor of the history and practice of Christian worship and the arts, discusses the erasure of intersex people in the areas of science, law, culture, and theology due to the assumption that all humans are either ‘female’ or ‘male.’ Read More

    October 24, 2022

  • Vanderbilt University

    Fall 2022 Convocation Remarks from Dean emilie m. townes

    Dean Emilie M. Townes’ Fall Convocation remarks, as delivered on August 26, 2022 each opening convocation, we have begun by remembering those who have died since we were last together in May and to celebrate the new births during this time as well today, we remember those killed… Read More

    August 28, 2022

  • Vanderbilt University

    Black girl joy, brilliance and magic are front and center at the inaugural Black Girls Becoming summer program

    In the spirit of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s memoir, Becoming, the program engages 7th and 8th grade Black girls in two weeks of classes that support their socio-emotional development while developing somatic and academic literacies. Read More

    August 1, 2022

  • Vanderbilt University

    Do the hard and necessary work

    A reflection from our dean, Emilie M. Townes, for July 2022: With the early release of the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision written by Justice Alito in May, we knew what the opinion would be. The finality of the end to the constitutional… Read More

    July 29, 2022

  • Vanderbilt University

    The choice for historically Black congregations in Edgehill and 12 South: stay or go

    Pastor Darin Freeman of Tabernacle Baptist Church walks around the old property which recently sold at 2214 12 Avenue South in Nashville , Tenn., Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Two years ago the church moved to 6801 Charlotte Pike. NICOLE HESTER / THE TENNESSEAN Originally published at 9:00 p.m. CT July 19,… Read More

    July 20, 2022

  • Vanderbilt University

    The nature and necessity of bone-deep love

    Bone-deep love calls us to live our lives out of the possibilities found in wholeness, self-reflection, justice, peace, a new heaven and a new earth, hope and not our shortcomings—that rest on greed, self-centeredness, avarice, coveting, despair. Amazing love moves us to grow in compassion, understanding, and acceptance of each other. A far better place to be morning by morning and day by day. Read More

    May 3, 2022

  • Vanderbilt University

    No matter what the world hands us we give back love

    Somehow, no matter what the world hands us we give back love, we stand for goodness, we live our faith, we live with integrity. we live God’s grace large, we stand with the least of these, we build bridges of salvation, liberation, justice, joy, and deep spirit that can carry the depth and breadth of humanity over them. Read More

    April 4, 2022

  • Vanderbilt University

    Scholars of economic justice from varied disciplines expand on Wendland-Cook Program’s mission in Academic Fellows Forum

    For the first time in its history, the Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice has accepted three scholars into its year-long fellowship program, which focuses on matters relating to the intersections of religion, economic justice, class and labor, and environmental justice. The previous cohort in 2020 had… Read More

    March 29, 2022

  • Vanderbilt University

    Lament is not about helplessness or hopelessness

    Lament is not about helplessness or hopelessness. When done in community, we name that which is causing us to be tempted by despair with as much precision as possible and then begin to take steps to address—if not eradicate—that which keeps us from a more just world. Read More

    March 11, 2022